The 32,481-square-foot two-story retail and office building in downtown Westport is the home of Michele's Pies and Destination Maternity on the ground floor, and 17,798 square feet of office space on the second floor.

There is private parking for about 100 vehicles.

"It's a great location. It's in the walking district. Westport is a high-level boutique and high-barrier-to-entry market," said Salvatore Campofranco, founder and manager member of Luzern Associates.

Campofranco said he does not own much commercial space, but was attracted to the property because it is situated in an upscale community and a retail district that attracts selective shoppers.

There is a demand for retail property that serves high-income clientele, said Campofranco, who plans to alter the facade and make some interior improvements.

He has hired an area real estate firm to market the property, which has between 8,000 and 10,000 square feet of available retail space. He declined to identify the firm.

The site is a prime location in Wesport's upscale downtown retail area, and it provides tenants with ideal exposure on busy Route 1, said Al Mirin, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate brokerage firm that has an office in Stamford and represented Baystreet in the sale.

"The property's ideal location, on-site parking and the retail appeal of Westport's demographics made it a high-demand investment opportunity," said Mirin, part of the sales team with Michael Gordon and Kate Schwartz.

Mirin and Schwartz are members of Cushman & Wakefield's Private Capital Group, which specializes in middle market building sales ranging from $2 million to $15 million.

Campofranco said he has confidence in the southwestern Connecticut retail market, noting the recession did not have a long-term impact on upscale shopping districts.

"In the depth of the recession, stores went out in New Canaan (Campofranco's hometown), but I was amazed by how quickly they were filled," he said.

The deal follows several in lower Fairfield County in the past several months as investors recognize the financial advantages of putting their money into retail property.

"Retail is off the roof. You can't get enough of it," Mirin said, commenting that retail leases at 180 Post Road East command 2 1/2 times the rate for office space in the building. "Retail has 90 percent recovered (from the recession)."

Investors and developers are noticing.

Among retail property deals and projects that have been OK'd is the plan for North Carolina-based Lowe's to build a 142,000-square-foot home improvement store at 80-100 Connecticut Ave. (Route 1), approved by the Norwalk Planning Commission.

The project, which requires demolition of a vacant office building that once housed marketing firm Affinion, is scheduled for completion in the late fall of 2015.

The Lowe's project follows a long tradition of commercial development on Route 1 in Norwalk, said Tad Diesel, Norwalk's director marketing and business development.

"Since the stage coaches traveled that route, it's been a commercial route. Norwalk is a center of retail amenities," he said. "Everything we see says residential is in the process of moving in the right direction. Retail clearly is expanding on the heels of residential."

Retail development is surging in Norwalk with the development of Waypointe on West Avenue. The mixed-use development by Greenwich-based Belpointe Real Estate, will offer housing for 2,000 people and 90,000 square feet of space for stores and restaurants.

Nearby, at Water and Washington streets, Spinnaker Real Estate Partners is leading development of another mixed-use residential-retail project, Diesel said.

Meanwhile last month, a private investment group bought an 8,115-square-foot mixed-use building in downtown Darien for $4.7 million. The ground-floor tenant is Panera Bread.

There would be many more retail real estate deals in the region if property owners were not having much success with their sites, according to attorney Neil Marcus, a principal in his family's Shops at Marcus Dairy and a principal with Cohen & Wolf, a law firm that focuses on real estate law.

The 77,000-square-foot retail center landed Whole Foods in May, Marcus said, adding that his family has been contacted by many real estate and investment firms.

"Everybody agrees there's a lot of money in the market and not a lot of product. Competition for existing properties is intense," Marcus said. "You get a lot of phone calls asking, `Is your property available?' "

The complex, which is fully occupied and is approved for 6,000 square feet more, holds sentimental value for the Marcus family. It is on the site of where 97-year-old Jack Marcus established his dairy in 1947.

"It's like an old friend, and we enjoying owning real estate. It's the heritage," said Neil Marcus.

An investor would have to offer owners of retail complexes in Greater Danbury a substantial bank roll to induce them to sell, said Joe Wrinn, vice president and partner of Goodfellow-Ashmore, a Danbury-based commercial real estate firm.

"You've got a lot of stubborn swamp Yankees here. Where else are they going to put their money? In Greater Danbury, retail is prospering," he said. "Federal Road, the Miracle Mile and the Danbury Fair mall -- you have very little vacancy in retail here."

Like many of the communities in Fairfield County, Greenwich continues to be a target for retail property investors.

In May, Greenwich-based Urstadt Biddle Properties did not have to venture far to acquire two retail properties on Putnam Avenue in Greenwich for $18 million.

One was a 9,300-square-foot strip center on West Putnam, which includes national tenants Cosi and JP Morgan Chase Bank, and a 15,000-square-foot retail and office center anchored by Jos. A. Bank.

At the time of the deal, Willing Biddle, president of Urstadt Biddle, called them "high-end, high-demographic retail shopping centers," and said his firm was looking for other opportunities.

"Shopping centers are popular across the country. They carry opportunities for landlords and little responsibility because the tenants pay triple-net expenses -- the real estate taxes, insurance and common area maintenance," said Ron Brien, principal in Alliance Commercial Property in Greenwich. "It's the best deal around."

Several small retail transactions have occurred in Fairfield -- one for $2.35 million at 2452-2490 Black Rock Turnpike in December 2012 and another for $1.4 million in July for property at 1876 Bronson Road, said Brett Sherman, senior vice president of Angel Commercial in Fairfield.

But Sherman said his firm has been working on the sale of a 90,000-square-foot retail complex in Westport, which he expects to close soon.

"That's a very large transaction. We'll have that completed in a four-week window," he said. "There's a great demand for retail properties in Fairfield County. It's the demographics of our marketplace and discretionary income. There are people (prospective buyers including real estate investment trusts) from all areas of the country looking to buy into the marketplace."

Various sources have put the annual median income of a Fairfield County household at more than $79,000, and in many communities it is well over $100,000 per year.

"Fairfield County is a real affluent area, and it makes a difference in terms of retail," said Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. "Healthy retailers mean healthy shopping centers."

Interest from potential buyers, including real estate investment trusts, is a natural result, he said.

"I know there are some looking to do some acquiring," he said. "Things are trending in the right direction so more may be on the buy side."